Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1887-05-19

were all of us bathed' in perspirat.on
I and covered with blood, too from
our scratched hands, arms and
/ faces. But not one of us had
shown the white feather so far;
and after time. having got around
to the rear of The place where We sup
/ posed the pirates to be posted, halted
my party to wait for the signal-guz
from the Greyhound, which L had
been told to lay by for. The brush
was so dense all about us that we could
not see through it for any considerable
distance; and we had scarcely sat down
in the grass, to wait for the signal-gun,
when, on a sudden, we heard a noise
in our rear, a cracking. swapping and
rustling, as if large party were COM
ing through the briars.
"'It's the pirates! They're coming!
They've surrounded u.s. was the stimuli
taneous exclamation from nearly every
man in the detachment.
Il thought so myself, and instantly
gave the order to form in line and
make ready. From the noise. the en-
envy were apparently in overwhelming
force. They seemed to be creeping
rapidly through the dense chaparral,
and in a line several hundred yards in
length. 1 thought to myself that our
last hour had surely come. To keep
up my own courage, 1 begun most
| spirited harangue to my men.
".Stand fast, boys!' 1 exclaimed.
We can whip 'em. You know they
are a lot of sneaks and towards.
Stand fast, aim low, and give 'em cold
lead the instant they break through
the brush. Then 90 at them with your
cutlasses?
AZ had hardly uttered these brave
words, when the foremost of the enemy
appeared amongst the briars, not
| dozen yards away. At sight of them,
shout rose, then roar of laughter.
The supposed pirates were several
thousand huge land-crabs, tearing
through the high grass and briars like
a flock of sheep. 1t is needless to say
that did not continue my speech; in
fact, felt so cheap that could think
of nothing further to say at all befitting
the occasion.
The old marines lay chuckling in
! the grass; and pow and then / could
hear them eXhorting each other to aim
low but paid no attention to them.
We had not lain there much longer, how
ever, before a broadside from the vessels
| crashed on the still air from the sea-
ward side; and then had the pleasure
| of ordering my still smiling command
| toward to the attack. The rendezvous
| of the freebooters was about a little
! landing at the foot of some low bluffs,
| with irregular, broken ground in the
| rear, nearly impenetrable by reason OF
the thorn thickets and rugged lodges.
1.-The fire from our vessels soon
routed them out of their position near
the landing place; and Immediately we
who were coming round in the rear be-
gan to get glimpses of the fugitives,
some of them carrying great bundles OF
goods.
my fellows blazed away at these,
but they lodged, doubled and cut away
from us by paths in the chapparal that
we did not know of; and though we
pushed forward as vigorously as we
could, we only succeeded in capturing
one old fellow with a lame leg. who
| also proved to be leper, having large.
scaiy, white patches of diseased tissue
over his entire body. Disdaining to
exhibit such miserable object as my
prisoner 1 babe him go in peace.
Pushing forward we came upon
| the crest of a bluff. There. near the
landing, yet out of sight from it, being
hidden from view on the water side by
another crag, we found the stronghold
| of the pirates, from which they had
just run away. Here were several long,
low houses, where they lived, remote
and concealed from the world. There
were many boats. several of them new,
and a great quantity of fishing tackle.
as well. as sabers, guns and four can
non. While recommending, one of my
men discovered a dark hole at the base
of the crag. We looked in, and then,
to our surprise, found it to be the en-
trance TO an immense cave, full of
plumber of all kinds, taken from YES
sells which the pirates had captured.
''Just as L was entering the cavern,
very large black monkey jumped
down from IL dark nook in the rocks,
and chattering his teeth angrily, dis
puted by advance. Determined to take
at least one reputable prisoner,
seized him by the throat, and for
few moments we had a prodigious
struggle. The black brute was almost
as strong as man. He bit me through
the arm, but L choked him into sub
mission. He surrendered and behaved
very well. offered no further resistance
while bound him with bit of warp.
ION exploring the cave with torches.
we found large number of bales of
silks. satins and laces, together with
bundles and packages of less expensive
fabrics. There was one long tier of